United Nations is going bankrupt: UN chief warns

Having been accused of ‘moral bankruptcy’ by US officials, The United Nations appears to be heading for fiscal bankruptcy as, earlier this summer, UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned staff that the world body is running out of cash and urged member states to pay what they owe as soon as possible.

But it appears Guterres’ warnings went unheeded by many, as Statista’s Sarah Feldman notes that as the United Nations concludes its two weeks of annual meetings in New York, some states remain timelier with their annual payments than others.

By the end of the on-time payment period in February, only about a third of countries paid their dues in full.

Seven months later about two thirds of member states have made their payment to the regular budget. All permanent members have made their full regular payments, except the United States.

President Trump has routinely complained about the alleged skewed payment of United Nations dues system, where the U.S. pays 22 percent of the overall regular budget. All member states are legally required to make payments to both the regular budget and the peacekeeping budget, two separate budgets with two different payment calculations. The UN considers gross national income, population, and debt burden when coming up with its operational budget.